David Norris (Independent)

I am very glad to have been preceded by Senator Mansergh. Some weeks ago I raised on the Adjournment the issue of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union and got a very dusty answer from the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. This matter also affects Irish Actors' Equity, which is far more vulnerable because its members are just doing voiceovers and are among the most meanly paid people. I thank Senator Mansergh and believe he should contact the Minister in this regard because he is right that it is not fair.

Let us not fool ourselves in regard to the civil partnership Bill. There was a delaying tactic by the Minister when I introduced my Bill and there was an attempt to vote it off the Order Paper, which is a disgrace. We managed to avoid that, however, and then three conditions were put down, one of which concerned the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, which has been published, and another which concerned the report of the Law Reform Commission, which has been also published. It recommends the type of proposal I suggested, largely along the lines of the Bill the Labour Party introduced in the Dáil. The Minister then established his own commission, chaired by Ms Anne Colley. This has reported along the same lines and as Senator Mansergh said, there was a Supreme Court judgment to be considered. There had been a decision of the High Court and the judge reprimanded the Oireachtas for not acting because we continually neglect our duty. There is no question it is our duty and it was a disgraceful fudge, dishonesty even, to table a motion which stated this matter would be postponed for six months knowing there is to be an election in the meantime. Those are not the types of standards I want to see in public life.

I am very glad my colleague, Senator Tuffy, raised the question of affordable housing. This is another farce. My friends in Fianna Fáil ought to be very careful about getting too chummy with the building and construction trade, which is a very dangerous area. They have had their fingers burnt before and they should be careful it does not happen again. I have what I am sure is the same letter Senator Tuffy received, which was sent to a friend. It coyly states they have some property in Dublin 13. They do not say how they acquired it and, from reading the letter, one would imagine they had built it themselves. Yet a single person has to earn between €45,000 and €58,000 to avail of the scheme, when the average wage is about €30,000. Who are they talking about? This is supposed to be affordable housing for people such as poorly paid nurses about whom we are still squabbling as regards giving them a decent wage. A couple must have an income of between €45,000 and €75,000 to qualify for the scheme. Let us live in the real world. This scheme was supposed to provide for people who could not afford housing. We should re-examine it. There is a possibility of land rezonings being involved and all the rest of it, but the critical factor is that this measure was contained in legislation passed here, providing that a proportion of developments would be allocated for affordable housing, but the developers have been allowed to get away with it. They have been allowed to weasel their way around this measure and many decent people in Fianna Fáil know that is the case.